Local bands recognize The Beatles' U.S. invasion anniversary during debut of Limelight Eventplex

Sunday

Feb 9, 2014 at 12:01 AMFeb 9, 2014 at 11:14 PM

PEORIA — Area musicians covered songs from The Beatles while residents crowded into a brand new music venue in North Peoria Sunday night.

The Limelight Eventplex, 8102 N. University St. just north of Pioneer Parkway, hosted 14 bands for a show commemorating The Beatles' American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, 50 years ago.

Rick Owens, one of the three co-owners of Limelight, said it probably had close to 1,000 people just before intermission Sunday night. All proceeds from the concert will be donated to three area charities: Central Illinois Dream Factory, St. Jude's, and Washington High School Tornado Relief.

Devin Birch, another co-owner, said they decided to have their first show be a charity event to support the community.

"It makes a statement that we are here for the community," Birch said. "We are trying to help out charities that are local in our community and at the same time that gives us a chance for everyone to come in and see what the venue looks like."

Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy is a member of St. Jude's National Board and attended Sunday night's concert representing St. Jude. He echoed similar thoughts as many area residents who attended the event: Peoria has needed a venue like this. "I think it's going to fill a void for some of the things that people have been looking for."

The Limelight offered meal tickets for food catered by The Fox, 7800 N. Sommer St., throughout the event. The venue has a wrap-around bar close to the main entrance, a corridor to the main stage with seating and standing room in the rear.

VIP ticket holders had small tables with seating and a bar on a balcony set back from the floor's standing room area, allowing a full view of the crowd and stage. There were four additional bars in the stage area, with two on the sides and two in the rear.

Both Owens and Birch gave credit to Craig Moore, owner of Younger Than Yesterday music store, 2615 N. University St. They said Moore approached them in November about using the new venue and it gave them a goal of when to finish construction.

In the event's program, Moore wrote a page on the history of The Beatles and how the band almost came to Peoria in 1966. He said the British band then charged a flat rate of $10,000 per appearance and actual cost of the show would run closer to $20,000 with opening acts and other costs associated with a concert.

Moore wrote, "Hank (Skinner) figured that he could only charge around $5 per ticket, top ticket price in those days, even for the Beatles, and he'd have to draw 2,000 kids to the Youth Building just to pay the headliner."

Because of the money associated with the show and the logistics, Moore said Skinner passed on the opportunity. He also wrote that Skinner was a "local impresario ... (who) had been bringing in national acts for several years" as of 1966 in Peoria.

The doors opened for the charity benefit at 5 p.m. Sunday for VIP ticket holders, $50, and 5:30 p.m. for general admission, $20. For more information on the Limelight Eventplex and for upcoming shows, check its website, limelighteventplex.com, which should be available to Internet users by Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

Robert Connelly can be reached at rconnelly@pjstar.com or 686-3251. Follow him on Twitter @RConnelly_PJS.